Vehicle-coupling



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. O. OHLSEN.

VEHICLE COUPLING.

No. 338,546. Patented Mar. 23, 1886.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. G. OHLSEN.

VEHICLE COUPLING.

No. 338,546. Patented Mar. 23, 1886.

N. PETERS. Phat UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HANS CHRISTIAN OHLSEN, OF OOVINGTON, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE HALF TO AUGUST OHLSEN, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

VEHICLE-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 338,546, dated March 23, 1886.

Application filed October 12,1885. Serial No. 179,683. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Hans CHRISTIAN OHL- SEN, of Oovington, Kenton county, Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Vehicle-Couplings, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is intended for application to those vehicle-couplingssuch as thill-couplings or side-bar spring-couplings-in which one part is connected to a clip on another part by means of a hinge-j oint.

My invent-ion relates to improvements in those devices which prevent the parts of the said hinge-joint from rattling against one anr 5 other. This result I accomplish by the customary expedient of an indiarubber spring or cushion which presses the parts of the hingejoint into firm and uninterrupted contact.

My invention consists, primarily, of means whereby the said india-rubber spring or cushion may be made to exert the required pressure for efficient action, both when the coupling is put together and when the parts of the same have become worn away by use.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a vertical section, and Fig. 2 a top view, of a thill-coupling embodying my invention. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section of the same on the line 3 3 in Fig. 1. Figs. 4 and 5are re Spectively a vertical section and a side view of a side-bar spring-coupling embodying my i11- vention. I

Ishall first describe my invention as applied to a thill-coupling.

A may represent the forward axle, andB the rear end of one of the thills of a vehicle. To the said axle A is attached a clip, 0, to which the said thill is connected by means of ahingejoint, D, the pintle of which is constituted by 0 a bolt, E, which passes through the clip-eyes c and through the thill-eye b, which is inclosed between said clip-eyes. To the rear of the hinge-joint D and inclosed between the clipeyes is an india-rubber spring or cushion,

F, which is contained in a box, G. This box is open in front, and its upperand lower sides, 9, inclose the rubber spring or cushion F, and project over the edges of the clip-eyes 0, so as to enable said box to be supported by and 5e guided on said clip-eyes. Between the indiarubber cushion F and the hinge-j ointD is preferably inserted a brass gib, H, which transmits the pressure ofthe india-rubber spring to the back of the thill-eye, while preventing the said india-rubber spring from being worn away by actual contact with said thill-eye.

A screw, I, is tapped into the clip O, and its head i presses forward against the back of the box G, and is preferably provided with ratchets z" or hole 6, to enable it to be turned by a wrench or pin. The screw I thus constitutes a set screw, by which the box G and its contained india-rubber cushion F may be pushed forward so to bring sufficient pressure against the back of the thill-eye to prevent the parts of the hinge-joint D from rattling against one another. The sides 9 of the box, together with the inner sides of the clip-eyes c, prevent any vertical or lateral extension of the india-rubber cushion F as it is pushed forward.

In putting the coupling together the box G and its contained india-rubbcr cushion F are put back out of the way until the thill is secured to the clip-eyes. The gib H is then inserted and made to press against the thill-eye b with the required force for efficient action by screwing out the set-screw I.

WVhenever, by Wearing away of the indiarubber cushion F and the parts of the hingejoint D, the. said india-rubber cushion has been rendered ineffective for its purpose, it may readily be brought into efficient action again by further screwing forward of the setscrew I.

An additional advantage of this device consists in doing away with the troublesome op eration of holding the india-rubber cushion under considerable pressure out of the way until the thill has been secured to the clip.

A similar description to the above applies to my invention as embodied in a side-bar spring-coupling, except as to those differences which arise from the different relative positions of the parts to be coupled. The same letters, therefore, which are used above to refer to parts in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 refer also to similar parts in Figs. 4 and 5, except that in the last-named figures A and B represent, respectively, the side bar and portion of the loc side-bar spring, while 1) represents the eye of said spring.

As't-he clip-eye's c of the side bar project downward, the motion of the india-rubber cushion F in a side-bar spring-coupling is vertical, and its pressure against the hinge-joint D is downward, as shown in Fig. 4. The sides g of the box G in such a coupling are not above and below, but on each side of the rubber' cushion F, and it is the top and not the back of said box that receives the pressure from the set-screw.

I claim as new and of my in"ention- The combination, with the clip 0, having screw-threaded orifice, and provided with lugs having eyes 0, bar B, havingan eye, I), and

a pin, E, hinging the bar to the clip, ofthe gib 15 the orifice and having a recessed head bear- 2o ing on'the box, substantially as set forth;

In testimony of which-invention I hereunto set my hand.

HANS CHRISTIAN QHLSEN.

Attestz AARON E. MOORE, A. P. KNIGHT. 

